Almost The Wrong Choice
by CBloom2
Summary: An AU version of part of The King's Crossing. There's no fight between the guys, but has all the usual.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not sure if I say this enough but thank you so much to you all who read my stories. I enjoy writing them and when people say how much they love reading them, well it makes my day.**

**I'm still a little obsessed with The King's Crossing (probably because I haven't seen last night's episode yet) so this is kind of a AU version of part of the episode. There isn't a fight in this story, but Cal does leave to see Taylor. Obviously there will be a whiff of Ethan whump - hey it's me, I can't resist it! But I really am going to have to leave the episode alone now.**

**Usual disclaimer - belongs to BBC and I own nothing!**

**Almost The Wrong Choice**

"I know where Taylor is - I can get your money back Ethan!" Cal insisted, staring in earnest at his brother, who was shaking his head.

"No..." he mumbled as he grabbed his pen from the older man, fumbling to get it into his pocket, "I want your stuff out of the flat by the end of today," Ethan told him in no uncertain terms. Before Cal could react to his brother's declaration, the wall and window where they had been stood not ten seconds before, exploded behind them in a cloud of shattering glass and debris. Both men were thrown to the floor, Cal trying to cover his brother from the worst of it. As the dust began to settle, Cal started to get to his feet, hooking his hand under the smaller man's arm, "Are you alright?" he asked, doing a quick visual scan of his brother.

Ethan didn't get a chance to answer as the two doors on the corridor were pulled open allowing a confused Charlie and a few other staff members access to the mess, "Are you two alright?" Charlie croaked as he inhaled some of the dust and began to cough.

Cal didn't answer. He had given Ethan a quick once over and after seeing nothing to cause him any concern, he quickly strode away leaving an even more confused senior nurse and an extrememly shocked little brother, "Cal!" Charlie called after him...but he had gone.

"Ethan," Charlie tried to get the younger man's attention, "Ethan, we need to see what's happened outside."

Ethan looked down the corridor where his brother had just disappeared, then back to the older man, "Oh...yes...of course..."

As he began to follow Charlie, he was assaulted by a mighty coughing fit "Ethan?" Charlie questioned.

Ethan waved away his concern, "I'm alright, must be the dust."

A few minutes later, they were both busy outside the ED, assisting where they could, with Ethan ending up scrounging around in a hole with a poor young woman who had been knocked into it and was almost covered with concrete blocks. Within ten minutes she was out and on her way to Resus, Ethan following a little more slowly as he desperately tried to stifle another coughing fit as well as a pounding headache. He couldn't work out whether it was due to the accident or the crippling anxiety he was feeling over what his brother was doing, "Dr Hardy!"

He looked at Zoe in complete amazement, "I've been trying to talk to you...can you tell me what you know?"  
Ethan mentally shook himself, then he began to reel off everything that he knew. He was about to put some gloves on when Zoe stopped him, "Ethan, I've got this. Go and get cleaned up. You're covered in mud and soil...not exactly sterile are we," she flashed him one of her quirky smiles, "Plus you've had a huge shock earlier - go and get a drink and a rest - in fact I should send you home..."

She was interuppted by another coughing fit from the young doctor - only this time, he was struggling to catch his breath. He tried to supress the cough as much as possible, but his lungs were starting to feel like they might burst. He felt an arm around his waist - Charlie, "Come on - let's get you some oxygen, you're starting to look a little blue around the edges."

As Charlie began to guide him over to a bed, Ethan began hacking once more. This time was worse, "Ch...arlie...can't...breath..." he coughed out as his legs began to buckle, "Lofty!" Charlie called, thankful that the young nurse ran straight over to them and knew exactly what was needed, "His oxygen is at 85%," Lofty stated, loud enough for Zoe to hear, "Give him 100% oxygen and watch his vitals," she told them as she carried on working on the young woman from the crash. Lofty kept a careful eye on Ethan's stats, while Charlie kept an eye on the young doctor himself. Although his breathing seemed easier now on oxygen, Charlie could see that his forehead was pinched, indicating pain, "Ethan does anywhere hurt?" he enquired.

Ethan looked up at him and nodded slightly, "My head," he gasped, "I think I got hit by some flying debris..."

His eyes began to drift shut, "Concussion?" Lofty looked at Charlie.

"That's my bet," the older nurse agreed, "Ethan, you need to try and keep awake," he told the young man on the bed.

"Oxygen levels rising a little..." Lofty commented. Ethan's eyes fluttered open once more, "Cal," he breathed, "I need Cal."

Charlie leant over to get into his line of vision, "Louise is trying to get a hold of him - don't worry."

Suddenly, the coughing started again, but this time it overtook him so severely that his eyes rolled back into his head and he started shaking.

**So that was Chapter 1. This story is written so the next chapter shouldn't be to long. Thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**First things first, thank you soooo much for all your lovely reviews - always put a smile on my face. You are all so brilliant on this site.**

**Secondly, I've got two more chapters already written so I'm thinking that because you've all been so fabulous, I'm going to have a good go at posting them both tonight! I hope they live up to the hype haa haa.**

**As usual, I don't own anyone that you know.**

**Chapter 2**

Cal's eyes followed the police car as it steadily drove down the road, containing who he though had been the love of his life, then turned the corner and disappeared. He sighed deeply as he got back into his own car. What a mess! Suddenly he was overtaken by a surge of frustration, hitting out at the steering wheel, as if that would make any difference. Then, once again, he sat in silent contemplation of how much his life had gone to hell.

He thought that he had met the love of his life, but she had turned out to be a serial con-artist, who had just played him to get money out of him. He was also homeless after said girlfriend had conned him into stealing £15,000 from his brother, who had not only thrown him out, but was quite possibly never going to speak to him again.

Not only that, but she had phoned him when she got herself into trouble, expecting him to come running...which he did, leaving chaos in the ED when the wall came in on him and his brother. He had basically never given it a second thought - she had called and he had gone running. The thing that got to him the most was that when he had asked...almost pleaded with her to tell him that he had been different, that she had felt something for him, she had looked him in the eye without giving him an answer. He had then got the message loud and clear.

He had made such a mess of things. There was only one thing for it, he thought as he ran a hand through his hair, he would have to leave - that would be the best for everybody. Yes Ethan would accuse him of doing what he always does when the going gets tough, but without him hanging around Ethan and everyone else could get on with their lives.

He sat for a few moments considering his options. He would phone Zoe and resign - he had enough holiday days to use that would cover the amount of notice needed. He would tell Ethan face to face, he owed him that much, when he went round to the flat to fetch his things...yes that would be the best all round. With his decision made, Cal fumbled in his pocket for his phone, noticing that it had turned itself off. He quickly found the in car charger and plugged it in as he turned on the engine - the sooner he did this the better. No more than a minute had passed, when the message tone alerted him. He looked and noticed ten missed calls from the ED, with the last three have messages left. His brow furrowed in confusion because he wasn't due on shift for another hour. He listened to the messages. The first two were from Louise asking him to phone when he received the message, but the third message chilled him to the bone, "Cal, it's Lofty mate...look you need to get back here...it's Ethan..."

If the message said anything else, then Cal wasn't aware. All he knew now was that something was wrong with his brother and he needed to get to him as fast as he could. He quickly sped off, his mind working overtime. What was wrong with his brother? It must be bad to have called him so many times. Something had happened to his brother, and where had he been? Trying to re-connect with his con-artist girlfriend, "God Ethan, you'd better be alright..."

**And so ends chapter 2 - onwards to chapter 3...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3 - aren't I good to you?**

**On a different note can I ask - when Cal sent Ethan on holiday, was it to Magaluf? I can't quite remember, although I do remember thinking that it wasn't the best place to send Ethan. **

**Chapter 3**

Cal screeched to a halt in the car park. He jumped out of the car and sprinted throught the double doors of the ED. He immediately stopped at the desk, "Louise," he called to get the young receptionists attention, "Where is he? Where's Ethan?"

Louise took one look at the young doctor's stricken face, took hold of his arm and led him into the hubub of the ED. Lofty saw him as soon as they walked him, "Cal!" he called, making his way over.

"Lofty," breathed Cal, "Is he alright? What happened?"

"Calm down Cal, he's going to be alright. It looks like he inhaled a lot of dust when that wall came in and it irritated his lungs. He's had a few major coughing fits, but the last one really took it out of him. He was struggling to breathe...his lips started turning blue...then he had a small seizure..."

"Oh god...no...not again..." Cal muttered anxiously.

"We've got him on 100% oxygen and slowly his SATS have risen. He's also got a bump on the head, which no-one, not even Ethan noticed at the time, so he's got a nasty headache too."

"But he seemed ok when I left. I asked him and I looked him over..."

"He was running on adrenaline. He even ended up in a big muddy hole treating a patient! Once the adrenaline started wearing off, well that's when we noticed a problem..."

"Where is he then?" Cal looked all round him for any sign of his brother.

"He's still in Resus - come on I'll take you to him - Charlie's with him," the curly haired nurse took him by the elbow and steered him towards his brother.

They walked into Resus to see the back of Charlie hovering over Ethan, "Charlie?" Cal called.

The older nurse turned round in surprise, "Cal! Thank goodness, he's been asking for you - he's been getting a little agitated," he turned to the young man propped up on the bed, "Ethan, Cal's here," he told him as he gave the young doctor a small shake.

Ethan managed to open his eyes a little, but winced, "The light...my eyes..." he stammered through the oxygen mask that was still in position.

"Not much we can do about that in Resus little brother..." Cal told him as he took Charlie's place at the side of his pale faced brother.

"Cal, you came back!" Ethan exclaimed, as he tried to take the mask off. Cal gently placed his hand over Ethan's to stop him from removing the mask, "Of course I did - why wouldn't I?"

"Well it's not your usual M.O when things get tough..." Ethan smiled a little.

"Hmmm" was all Cal could say, as he thought back to when he was sat in the car deciding what to do.

"What happened?" Ethan rasped, swallowing hard as he tried in vain to stifle a cough. Cal helped him sit up a little straighter and he found himself rubbing his brother's back in the hope of offering some sort of comfort. Luckily, the coughing didn't last long and Ethan was soon reclined once more, but once again, it seemed to have taken a lot out of him and his eyes began to close, "Just rest..." Cal soothed.

"I need to know Cal. I know you went to her..." he cracked open his eyes and looked at his older brother.

Cal sighed, "Yes I went to her - just like she knew I would. I almost made the wrong choice Ethan, but I finally realised that you were right, she only called me because she expected me to help her get away - she knew I wouldn't call the police because of my feelings..."

"What did you do Cal?" Ethan almost whispered.

" They took her away Ethan. I phoned the police myself - it was all an act..." he dropped his head as a wave of sadness poured over him.

"I'm sorry Cal," Ethan whispered sincerely, desperately trying to keep his eyes open.

Cal patted his hand, "Don't apologise Ethan. It should be me apologising to you. I left you when you were hurt..."

"You didn't know."

"Get some rest, I'll be back - I need to sort out my shift."  
As he turned to leave, he was surprised when he felt his hand being grabbed. He moved round so that he could see the younger man, "You won't leave will you Caleb?" Ethan's eyes seemed to be pleading with him - a sight that he hadn't seen since they were children. He suddenly felt overwhelmed with love for his brother, who always stuck by him whatever he threw at him - who he had nearly lost twice in the last six month. It was time he grew up and become the big brother that he always should have been, "I'm not going anywhere Ethan, I promise. From now on, they'll be no more running away from my responsibilities..."  
"Huh, I'll believe that when I see it," Ethan chuckled as he gave into the weariness that had overtaken him.

Cal smiled as he left and went in search of Connie or Zoe. He was going to make it right with Ethan.

Sometimes they couldn't live with each other, but one thing was for certain, they definitely couldn't live without each other.

**So that's it. Hope it didn't disappoint. **

**I've got an idea for a Ethan fic when he went on the holiday that Cal organised, which is why I need to be sure I'm sending him to the right place.**

**See you next time.**


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